Twenty-plume Moth

On a warm summer evening our garden smells of a mix of warm spice and mown hay, the particular scent of Golden-rod. This rather exuberant species, which has a habit of self-seeding wildlife, is great for late autumn invertebrates. 

In the day it tends to be dominated by green-bottle flies. But at night a completely different set of creatures takes over - clouds of harmless male mosquitoes, lacewings, mayflies and a surprising variety of moths, mostly micro-moths.

The English name of the unusual Twenty-plume Moth is something of a misnomer, as each wing is separated into 6 'plumes' and it is now often referred to as the Many-plume Moth. The scientific name is more accurate, meaning 'six-fingered'. It's a common species of parks and gardens and can occur wherever Honeysuckle grows.